Family
by Vega Ikari
Summary: Angel finds another he will share his destiny with.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing; intellectual property is merely my play thing. BTW my spelling and grammar sucks. If this offends you, you could always beta for me. (vega@dragonslave.com)

Family: Prologue

I know there is a place where I must die. When you live on the streets, your more primal urges return. The need for shelter and food overcome the everything-else about life. Your senses improve and instinctual code begins to rein over your life. The same happens to all those on your street. Subway grates are marked, the best garbage cans are controlled, and the dead are sent out to die. Our own down-trodden society living within the walls of Los Angels. Oh course, it was never always this way for us. 

I haven't thought back to my old life until this day. The pain in my leg brings me back to that of my youth. Classical conditioning, if you associate physical pain with home then on your death bed the only thought in your mind will be the place you left behind. From the cradle to grave they'll always control you in someway. I don't regret leaving; I never will. There are worst things than finding your food in someone's trash. 

How I ended-up in my state doesn't matter. These people with their heighten senses can see dead lurching behind me, slowly moving closer. They avoid and shun me, hoping the dark beast won't take them right after me. It's not so bad. It has been done in so many cultures so many times long before we started to cradle our dead. 

I leave the warm grates and safe alleys of the living and start my final journey. A path leading to my death, it's a time to reflect and figure where it all went wrong. I'm trying not to think about the pain in leg, in my past, and in my present. I entertain the idea that at seventeen I'm too young to die, but I know that with my life I'm too old to continue. 

On my bleeding and tried legs I finally arrived at my spot. I had passed it a thousand times before. It was tall building, a hotel once upon a time. Beautiful soft looking light colored brown bricks, tall doorways, beautiful brass work glittering in the night's false glow, it had that sense of nostalgia that only a few in the consistently changing world of Lala-Land seem to hold onto. Nostalgia or not it currently stood dead on the rainy night, unfazed like a soldier. At one time it had been filled with life, and now it sat quietly with its few visitors coming in and out at all hours. What can I say; I've always had a thing for symbolism. 

I walked up the steps letting my blood leave a rusty trail behind me. I curled up in the strong corner made of the large wooden door and cool concrete blocks. I pulled my shirt over my arms. It was never that cold in LA but the wind and rain had turn the winter night chiller than I was prepared for, but I knew I was colder from lost of blood than the weather. I pulled the shirt over my now freezing nose and fingers. What did my third grade teacher say? Something about how blood goes to main appendages when it gets cold. It got much colder than this in Iowa. I got treated a lot worst. The world suddenly got very dark as one of my walls collapsed inward. I wonder if they'll call a doctor. 

*******************

A strong dark figure stood hunched over a dusty volume. Tall stacks of the volume's disregarded brethren threatened to tumble. Great shadows battled on the ceilings and floors unnoticed. The battles continued as the man had forgotten to turn on the light. It seemed the vampire had forgotten all his practiced human habits. It was easy to forget that which you didn't need. Light was one of these. Sunlight stood apart, of course. Sunlight was impossible to forget. You only miss things when you'll never see them again. 

Angel flipped the page and another cloud of dust burst from the novel. He had forced the others home hours ago. An unreal sigh come from dead lungs. The empty hall echoed the vampire frustration. Before the others had left they had searching for their answer for six hours; Angel had continued by himself for three more. Hundreds of dusty pages had still to yield any information. Some of the books as old as Angel, antiques by any standard, seemed to be worthless. 

Angel paused, running a hand over the yellow and worn pages. Everything in the room displayed it age, except for him. The vampire tried to ward away his thoughts. It was damaging to sit and think about one's existence. No own knows the meaning of life, but no one knows this. The soul is a fickle creature. If it doesn't have a purpose, then what's the point? Suddenly you release how much you really miss the sunlight. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to see it one last time. 

Angel tried to push the thoughts away as a warm air drifted in. The vampire suddenly lost his train of thought. Angel tilted his head. There was a familiar scent in the air, sweet and tangy. It was like a memory from childhood. Something you sensed everyday but had long since forgotten. The vampire stood still almost enjoying the aroma when it hit him. The sweet scent was human blood. 

The vampire felt his entire body go tense. It was a long time since he had smelled fresh human blood. The smell wasn't entirely unwelcome. Angel tried to scold himself for his near craving as he followed the scent to the front doors. The skill of his undead nose told him the source was on the other side. Grabbing the polished handles, the vampire pulled the double doors open, apprehension grabbing at his stomach. The fear of what or who he would find crystallized for the dark avenger as the craved doors swung open. 

There was a small thud at his feet. 


	2. Arrival

Note: This all happens sometime after Fred moves in and before Darla comes. 

Arrival 

Angel compulsively took in a breath as he looked down. At his feet was a slender young woman with black hair and a blood stained leg. She laid face down on the wood floor. Millions of scenarios started to race through the man's head. All those who would hurt him or those he loved suddenly seemed too many to count. His senses returning to him, Angel dropped to his hunches next to the girl. Looking the her over, the vampire felt himself sigh in relief. She was too short to be Cordellia, and Fred was safe upstairs. Angel relaxed immediately, but none of this did not change the fact that someone was dying or dead in his door. 

Placing a cautionary hand the small back, the vampire could feel the counter tempos of breath and beat gently pressing against his large hands. The smell of blood was coming from a large gash in her leg that ran the length of her thigh at least. The vampire's nose knew she was bleeding from other places as well but not as badly. Ripping the bottom of her tattered pant leg, Angel wrapped her thigh hoping to stop some of the blood. Taking care not aggravate her injuries, he turned the girl over to survey the rest of her body. She wasn't heavy, less than 100 pounds. Her stomach was concave while she was on her back, falling back into her own body. Ropy muscles were the only flesh under her well tanned skin. Looking at her cut face, Angel thought she couldn't be a day over 16. Her body was ruined, but she still had the face of a child. The man put his hand on her check. It was nearly as cold as him. She had lost a lot of blood, and it was still flowing from her body. The vampire thought out his options; he had none left. He stood up a picked up the receiver. 

The healer had arrived quickly and noisily. He had been so noisy that he had woken up Fred from two stories up. She now sat at the top of the stairs still in her pajamas and wrapped in a comforter watching the scene unfolding in the lobby. Fred looked like she was watching her best friend fight for her life, not some unknown girl that had stumbled upon their door. That was Fred, kind, gentle, and caring to the last. 

The healer nervously worked on the girl in front of him, rocking back and forth on his clawed feet. He was a tall Gargaton Beast standing at about four feet. He was covered by large gray scales with a bird like beak and yellow eyes without pupils. His eyes had cause most of the ruckus when he first arrived. Without any pupils the beasts could not see. They could sense living beings and their states making them great healers, nonliving objects on the other hand escaped them. Nothing that had been broken was that expensive, but Angel still found himself wondering how they managed to get around at all. 

The Beasts always seemed to walk around unnoticed by everyone who wasn't part of the super-natural circle. They could walk down the street running into to parking meters, and not one soccer mom would notice. Their kids did of course but never the adults. It was the same principal that kept people from believing in vampires in Sunnydale. If you didn't want to see it, it wasn't there. Angel was sure that they also had some spell they weren't sharing with the rest of the super-natural world, but he had no proof. 

The beast seemed even smaller as hunch over the girl chanting. A low light passed back and forth between the two as the girls cuts come together on their own accord. The Gargaton was also simulating the girl's body to produce new blood. She had been lucky. Normally, Gargatons were no where to be found. Angel knew this one personally. Shortly after getting his soul back the first time, he had run across him in a street. A Lorgan Demon, a seven foot slobbering horned scaly man, was about to make him a midnight snack when the vampire intervened. The Beast had been grateful ever since. He announced his arrival in LA a few days back, offering his services to his savior without question or compensation; he was just leaving when Angel had called.

Angel wasn't sure if it was his or the girl's good karma that he hadn't left. Looking at the girl, she was probably behind in her share of the good karma. No one ever showed up on the vampire's step who didn't need saving. Helping the hopeless, not only a good tagline.

Finally, the Gargaton stood. He could do no more. Angel moved the girl into a bedroom; they would have to wait for morning to see what would happen. 


End file.
